Best lawnmower & best place to get one?

jon_E_begood

Hi,

The time has come to replace the ol' mover with now acts more like a plough and destroys the lawn! Looking for a reasonably priced electric mower - does anybody have any recommendation of models and places to get them?

Thanks

vk2003

Hi Jon
I know very little about electric mowers, so what I am about to say is probably useless, but in my experience, a good petrol mower is an excellent purchase, and often with a roller, you get a nice stripy lawn afterwards.

In that respect, Honda mowers are fantastically reliable, and you can even get them with a key start (not a ride on mower!). Costco do some good deals on Honda petrol mowers and might be useful.

HTH

Avoriaz

How about a couple of goats?

None of that tedious mowing and you get to drink lots of lovely fresh goat's milk.

prudryden

vk2003 wrote: »

Hi Jon
I know very little about electric mowers, so what I am about to say is probably useless, but in my experience, a good petrol mower is an excellent purchase, and often with a roller, you get a nice stripy lawn afterwards.

In that respect, Honda mowers are fantastically reliable, and you can even get them with a key start (not a ride on mower!). Costco do some good deals on Honda petrol mowers and might be useful.

HTH

Which Honda mower do you have? Does it have a Honda engine or Briggs?

benood

Avoriaz wrote: »

How about a couple of goats?

None of that tedious mowing and you get to drink lots of lovely fresh goat's milk.

With sheep you might save one or two trees as well. And think of the lovely roast lamb.;)

handyman.

Which? report : Lawnmowers | 02 April 2007Best Buys
Best Buy mowers that are a cut above the rest.
Navigate this report
Overview
Best Buys
Features explained
How we test
FAQs
We’ve tested a range of the latest electric and petrol mowers for small- to medium-sized gardens and found several that were a pleasure to use and will leave your lawn with a great finish.

We found mowers that dealt with a typical once-a-week mow quickly and efficiently, yet could cope with wet, long or short grass if required.

Mowers that needed complicated procedures to adjust the blade height or were just plain hard work to use got marked down.

Most gardeners still want to collect and compost the clippings. But mulching mowers – which return the clippings to the lawn to feed it – may be the way forward. All collected the clippings but a couple could be converted to mulching at the flick of a switch.

Best Buys Champion Premier RL534SPH
Price: £299
Score: 72%
Type: Petrol rotary
This newcomer from Focus equalled our previous Best Buy Honda Izy. For a large mower it’s easy to use (it’s self-propelled), if not as manoeuvrable as the other Best Buys.

The grass collector was too small for such a large machine. However, it was one of the best performers on the standard lawn. This was not just a reflection of its greater cutting width; the finish was excellent too.





Honda Izy HRG415PD
Price: £275
Score: 72%
Type: Petrol rotary
This neat little petrol mower is the one to choose if you’ve always been afraid of pull-start machines - it really is effortless to start. There’s a self-propelled version too.

It breezed through all the tests and was the star performer on the rough grass. It has a plastic flap rather than a rear roller which gave a faint stripe on the standard lawn.





Bosch Rotak 37Li
Price: £299
Score: 69%
Type: Cordless rotary
This cordless mower boasts all the advanced features of the mains electric Rotaks. The narrow wheelbase made it very manoeuvrable and the combination of inset front wheels and grass combs means you can cut right up the lawn edge.

Add to that the fact that you don’t have to worry about any cable. For a cordless mower it’s light and easy to move about thanks to well-placed carrying handles.




Hayter Spirit 41 Push
Price: £249
Score: 69%
Type: Petrol rotary
A sleek robust mower with an easy-to-clean plastic deck. It breezed through all our tests, struggling only on the damp grass.

Despite being fairly heavy, this mower is easy to move around. The control bar is comfortable and moulded to fit the handle. Although the handle height can't be adjusted, it folds neatly for storing.





Toro Eurocycler 41
Price: £199
Score: 69%
Type: Electric rotary
This newcomer scored more highly than the other electric mowers, mainly because it's convenient and very easy to use.

It boasts comfortable controls and an adjustable handle height. The grassbox and cutting height adjuster were excellent too. And it was easy to store, with double folding handles.





Wolf-Garten Compact Plus 37E
Price: £189
Score: 68%
Type: Electric rotary
Another Best Buy from our last trial that is still holding its own.

Neat and nippy, it has a comfortable full width switch. The grass collector is user-friendly with a fullness indicator and a hinged flap for emptying.






Bosch Rotak 34
Price: £120
Score: 67%
Type: Electric rotary
A previous Best Buy, this is the best performer of the smaller mowers and the easiest to use. It is particularly good at cutting right up to the lawn edge thanks to the grass combs and the inset.

Performance is good on damp lawns, and the mower copes equally well with both rough and short grass. The grass collector is big although not as easy to empty as some.







Bosch Rotak 40
Price: £150
Score: 67%
Type: Electric rotary
The best electric mower for grass cutting performance. It was quick on the standard lawn and thanks to its rear roller gave a perfect striped finish.

The Rotak 40 is excellent at cutting edges and is also good on damp and rough grass, as well as being the quietest machine tested.

virgin_moneysaver

we're in same position & just got a Bosch rotak 36, it was on offer at Grattans reduced to 99.99 from 149.99 - so far so good its his new toy

roswell

Iv seen the Bosch Rotak at argos for £99 i think looks very nice ... as lawm mowers go.

handyman.

i would go for petrol every time. I got the cheapest one out of focus 5 years ago. Have done nothing to it appart from put fuel in it, and it starts every time, most impressive for £65.


It does look like 'which' really like bosch mowers

Lady_K

What make was that handyman? I tried petrol before and I had trouble with it starting within 12 months, as it got towards the end of the year too and colder weather it was impossible to start. The convenience of cable free is so tempting though. I have a lot of grass and only a 12 inch rotary blade mower.

I don't even own a car or know anything about engines so its thats putting me off

Sounds like you've been very lucky with yours though I thought petrol mowers needed yearly servicing. Where and how do you keep it over winter?

handyman.

i keep it under a bit of sheet plastic, all winter, outside!! Starts great, cant believe it myself. Feeling guilty now, and will service it. (probably will not work as soon as i touch it)


Its a champion make, with a briggs and stratton 35 moter on it